Challenge to Community College firearms ban

[warrior9504]

I am a licensed attorney practicing in the Lehigh Valley. I am currently looking for a student with a LTCF to act as a plaintiff in a lawsuit to have the firearms bans on community colleges declared invalid. Please PM me if you or someone you know is a current student who already possess a LTCF and wishes to carry on campus without fear of reprisal.

I believe these rules may violate PA law (preemption) and possibly state and federal constitutional protections.

Thank you.

[BimmerJon]

In?

Will guarantee my safety? lol

IANAL BYA

Edit: Not a current student. Why does it need to be a student?

[warrior9504]

Why does it need to be a student?

You have to be a student to have what we legal weenies call "standing" to sue. Standing just means that the wrong you are claiming actually hurts you.

In this planned case I would prefer you be either a current student or a prospective student. The rule I am challenging is in the student handbook

"Possession or use on College property or at College-sponsored or supervised functions of any firearm, gun, knife...except as expressly permitted in writting by the President or his designee"

Sorry Northampton County Community College, you can't make that rule and your President does not decide who can carry a firearm within the Commonwealth.

There are possibly other rules in community colleges that prohibit employees, faculty members, etc. from carrying and those would be invalid as well. I would be equally willing to accept that case.

[MDJschool]

Have you perused the other threads on here where we've tried to ascertain the nature of a community college's power as to see whether they really are in violation of § 6120?
What about reading the opinions (that I've heard) entertain some sort of proprietorship rights or 'necessary for the children' discretion to basically implement whatever they want as a 'rule'?

Of course, such a ban is preempted by our ORIGINAL preemption sections from the DECLARATION OF RIGHTS at §§ 1, 21, and 25. As long as they are government entities, I don't see how they can skirt the supreme law of the land.

[Kyle H]

I was under the impression that it wasnt against the law to carry a firearm on college campus and that it was up to the school. If thats the case how is this any different than any other privately owned place that bans firearms on the premise?

[MDJschool]

I was under the impression that it wasnt against the law to carry a firearm on college campus and that it was up to the school. If thats the case how is this any different than any other privately owned place that bans firearms on the premise?

Community colleges are probably anything but private, they are creatures of statute and are perhaps established by counties. Why should they be able to cheat the supreme law of the land that bars them from questioning the right to bear arms and transgressing man's inherent and indefeasible rights to defend life and liberty, and to possess and protect property, by calling themselves landowners?

[warrior9504]

Have you perused the other threads on here where we've tried to ascertain the nature of a community college's power as to see whether they really are in violation of § 6120?
What about reading the opinions (that I've heard) entertain some sort of proprietorship rights or 'necessary for the children' discretion to basically implement whatever they want as a 'rule'?

Of course, such a ban is preempted by our ORIGINAL preemption sections from the DECLARATION OF RIGHTS at §§ 1, 21, and 25. As long as they are government entities, I don't see how they can skirt the supreme law of the land.

I have not read these threads. I will search for them shortly. In short, the local community college is no different, under the law as I read it although I will admit to being a new lawyer, from any other local government entity. They can claim "safety of the children" all day long but just as a county park or playground cannot have such a ban neither can a community college.

I was under the impression that it wasnt against the law to carry a firearm on college campus and that it was up to the school. If thats the case how is this any different than any other privately owned place that bans firearms on the premise?

In PA there is no specific law that deals with LTCF on colleges. A private school can make its own rules just as a private property owner can but a municipal gov't cannot in this area. A local municipality is prohibited from "regulating" firearms by the General Assembly (aka "preemption").

I would eventually like to challenge all college bans on LTCF as violations of the RTKABA found in the federal and state constitutions...but the legal profession moves in small steps and this is what we like to call "low hanging fruit."

[JonEMTP]

How about we chase after a state university first?

I'll be the plantiff for West Chester University if it comes down to it.

[SigFrank]

I could be wrong but, I believe it is only a policy that students and employees are not allowed to carry on the property. Private citizens do not fall into this catagory, and are thusly not prohibited from carrying. This only applies to community colleges, not private ones.

PS: IANAL

[MDJschool]

In short, the local community college is no different, under the law as I read it although I will admit to being a new lawyer, from any other local government entity. They can claim "safety of the children" all day long but just as a county park or playground cannot have such a ban neither can a community college.

In PA there is no specific law that deals with LTCF on colleges. A private school can make its own rules just as a private property owner can but a municipal gov't cannot in this area. A local municipality is prohibited from "regulating" firearms by the General Assembly (aka "preemption").

How about we chase after a state university first?

I'll be the plantiff for West Chester University if it comes down to it.

yelruh55, he seems to be starting from § 6120 grounds at this time. A state university, whether we can truly call it a creature of the state or a private entity, will never fall under that section.

However, warrior9504, I don't really know how many people think a community college would count as a "county, municipality or township", so the college would have to exist as an extension of the power of any of those categories. If you can't make the legal steps from 'community college' to "county, municipality or township", there's no (statutory) preemption argument.

18 Pa.C.S. § 6120: Limitation on the regulation of firearms and ammunition
(a) General rule.--No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.

So, warrior9504, we appreciate your zeal and would like to do what we can to make sure your quest is successful even if any of us aren't the actual future plaintiff. Any concerns we may express as a result of this thread will be from fears of results from good intentions but bad work (e.g. quilici v morton grove).